IC: Chapter Four - At Sea

[Laraqua]

Kitt waves as she approaches them. "Well, looks like there's somebody to question... Its swell! You settled on the interrogation routine yet? Remember, the interrogators control where the suspect sits, when he eats, drinks or goes to the toilet... Control the routine and you control the person."

[Decrepit]

Jack smiles wryly at the proffered advice. He considers disabusing her of her illusions about police work but opts instead for a warmer "Well, I'll keep that in mind."

[Mister Juan]

When Kitt approached them, Isugtag immediately had something resembling a frown on his face. It wasn't that he had something against women... far from that. He was simply a bit suspicious of them; they had a tendency to have men do stupid things. The moment when he did definitely get a frown on his face was when she decided to “advise” them on how they should go about their interrogation. The big Inuit, his head almost reaching the ceiling, made something akin to a grunt (or maybe it was more like growl...), then simply turned around and started to make his way to Scott's “holding cell”.

He would let Jack do most of the talking, simply because he wasn't sure he could follow along...
But he already had a plan of his own.

[Henrik]

Olof would have enjoyed partaking in the interrogation, but he would probably only be in the way. "Too many cooks spoils the soup" as his mother used to say. Olof decided that it was time to go back to his cabin perhaps to do some further reading. There was always details about the Peabody drill that could be repeated.

[Laraqua]

Kitt just smiles, blissfully unaware of Isugtag's feelings. "So who's interrogating him today?"

[Decrepit]

"I think that falls to me," Jack says. "They seem to think I can ask good, tough questions. Maybe they ought to check with my editor about that.

"Anyhow, Isugtag's there to supply the 'muscle,' which I hope we won't need. I'm betting this fellow really wants to talk; most fellows with axes to grind do."

[Charles Graves]

Graves stands by the "holding cell" door with Isugtag waiting for Jack to join them.

He takes a sip of tea and places the cup back onto the china saucer he holds in his left hand.

He looks up at the imposing Inuit. "You don't mind me sitting quietly at the back do you old chap?" he says quietly. "I have some experience in analysing psychotics."

[Mister Juan]

Isugtag bowed his head at Graves in what could best be described as curt. The big Inuit respected the man greatly, and having him around did make him feel a bit nervous.

Undoing the lock on Scott's door, Isugtag pushed it open and was the first to step inside the small cabin. As he crossed the door, he had to slightly hunch down not to hit his head, making him seem even bigger than he actually was. His large boots made a menacing “thump” sound with every step as he took position next to one of the walls, using it to rest his back. He crossed his arms across his chest, their muscles showing under his rolled up shirt's sleeves.

Isugtag was hoping that his menacing presence and Jack's questions would be enough to get the information they were looking for. If Jack's wit wasn't enough... then the big Inuit would have to be a little more than just a “presence”.

[Raiko]

As Isugtag, Jack, Graves and Turlow step into the small cabin, Scott sits casually on the bunk, the look on the messboy's face can only be described as smug, certainly not what you'd expect of a young man destined to spend the next few years behind bars. When the big Inuit steps into the cabin, Scott's smug smile wavers for a moment, Isugtag overpowered him effortlessly on deck the night before.

Albert Webb a burly member of the engine crew stands watch inside the cabin, he steps outside in response to Turlow's nod. Turlow looks scornfully at Scott, "You can wipe that grin off your face boy. The captain's radioed ahead, I hope you like jail food."

"I've brought some friends who'd like a word with you. I believe you met Isugtag earlier."

[Mister Juan]

Once everyone had entered the small cabin, Isugtag grabbed a small wooden chair and placed it in the center of the room.

He looked straight at Scott.

"Sit." was all he grunted.

[Decrepit]

Jack looked around him and then at Scott. He hoped that he looked less nervous than he felt. He'd asked some hard questions, sure, but he wasn't a copper, and he'd never really been in a situation where his life might depend on the answers. He found a chair and sta down backwards on it, tipped his hat back, and, like some dime-novel detective, began to ask his questions.

[Laraqua]

Kitt goes to find Doctor Greene for a game of cards.

[Raiko]

Graves takes a seat in the corner of the cramped cabin; he takes another sip of his tea then places the cup by the side of his chair. Taking out a small notebook and a pencil the professor begins making notes, looking up every few seconds to study Scott's face. Officer Turlow takes up position just inside the door, by the side of Graves.

"You look awfully smug for someone in a heap of trouble." Jack leans forward on his chair-back looking levelly into Scott's eyes, while slightly behind him Isugtag stares menacingly at the messboy. Scott continues to grin smugly, he says nothing.

Jack spends several minutes listing the various acts of sabotage which all now point to Scott as the culprit. He starts with the poisoning of the expedition dogs - were the dogs the real target, or did Scott hope to murder expedition members?
Next: the sabotage of the reefer store, Scott's own cabin-mate and colleague Henning was almost killed by the ammonia fumes.
All of the sabotaged equipment in the cargo holds, Jack is careful not to reveal exactly what has been found, hoping that Scott may accidentally reveal further acts of sabotage.
And the blasting caps and fuses, the fuses were stolen back in New York, was Scott responsible for all of the problems that occurred in New York, did he write those threatening letters? Perhaps he murdered Captain Douglas as well?
The blasting caps themselves were stolen from the reefer store; Scott must have used Turlow's keys to gain access, what was he planning use the blasting caps for? Merely to damage more equipment, or did he plan to gain access to the dynamite as well?
Is Scott acting alone, or does he have accomplices? Perhaps from one of the rival expeditions?

Throughout all of this Scott does not say a word, he just smiles constantly and neither confirms nor denies any involvement in any of the acts that Jack accuses him of.

Midway through the questioning, Isugtag stands up and moves close to Scott. Bending down to stare menacingly into Scott's eyes the powerful Inuit slowly takes off his vest and rolls up his sleeves during Jack's next few unanswered questions. A single bead of sweat rolling slowly down Scott's forehead is the only outward sign that the young man is intimidated. His grin wavers slightly, but clearly he hopes that Isugtag is bluffing or that Turlow will intervene.

Those hopes are dashed when Scott remains silent for Jack's final questions. Isugtag grabs Scott's shirt with his left hand, slamming his right fist into Scott's face three times.

"No ones going to help you out here Adam," Jack's voice is level despite Isugtag's violence, "my friend wanted to beat you to a pulp, but I said we should be civilised first."

"Starkweather wants to hang you. I think he's mad enough to do it."

Turlow stands impassively by the doorway; perhaps he'll intervene if the beating gets too bad, but for now the tough first officer is content to stand and watch.

Graves too says nothing; he merely raises an eyebrow and continues to write notes.

When Isugtag raises his fist a fourth time, Scott shakes his head, "No, stop. Please. No more"

Scott's face is already beginning to swell under his left eye, and the smug grin has gone. Blood drips from a split in his lower lip. Isugtag retains his grip on Scott's shirt as the messboy tells his story.

<<To be continued...>>

<<I'll write more later today, it's the end of lunchtime now, so work's intervened for now>>

[Raiko]

"No more..."

"Jesus that hurts, ok I'll tell you. Yeah I damaged the reefer, and poisoned the dogs, and did the stuff in the holds."

"I didn't mean to hurt Henning, just spoil the food. And I don't know nothing about the Douglas murder."

"I just wanted to stop the expedition, some guy got in touch with me in New York, back when Starkweather first announced the expedition, offered me a lot of money to stop it reaching the ice, embarrass Starkweather. Said that Starkweather must be stopped, or people would die."

"I've read about Starkweather's other expeditions, if you had you'd know the guy was right."

"Leave the ship in Australia, before it’s too late."

Scott stops talking again, he looks rather calm, despite his apparent desperation to avoid a beating earlier.

As Jack considers what to ask next, Graves says, "Could you chaps join me outside for a second? Mr Turlow can watch the prisoner."

*********************************

When they're all outside the professor says, "I was studying Scott closely during the questioning, I don't think he's phychotic, but the man is clearly a fanatic."

"Before Isugtag started beating him, he appeared to be resigned to it - I think that he knew exactly what was coming."

"This story of his, I think that it's almost all true, but there's something more. Clearly there is something personal between him and Starkweather, more than just reading reports of Starkweather's expeditions."

"The press seem to love the buffoon anyway," Graves smiles at Jack, "present company excepted."

Graves shakes his head, "No there is something else, something personal that Scott is quite fanatical about, revenge perhaps? And I doubt that the truth can be beaten out of him."

"Doubtless Scott's mysterious New York benefactor knew of this and picked Scott by hand."


OOC: As Graves can't post during the week, and as he got some very good skill roll results, I've posted for him as an NPC.

[Decrepit]

"If it can't be beaten out of him, what might do the trick? Anything?" Jack asks Graves.

"Maybe there's nothing to do now but to keep him confined and hope that he's telling the truth about being responsible for the sabotage. If his contact is Lexington, we'll know soon enough."

[Charles Graves]

The professor nods, "Yes, sooner or later we'll get to the bottom of this business with Miss Lexington."

"I suspect that Scott may be using an assumed identity," Graves looks at Jack and Isugtag in turn, "You two gentlemen have contacts in law enforcement and amongst the press, might it be possible for you to learn through them who exactly our Adam Scott really is, and what his grudge with Mister Starkweather is all about?"


OOC: I posted this for Charles Graves, based on an SMS message he sent me - Raiko.

[BlackGoat]

Sean scribbles down notes on the happenings and begins trying to figure on what could be going on. The puzzle is a heavy distraction from the expedition. So much so that the atmosphere lacks any sort of excitement over the entire trip to the ice.

Whispering to himself...
"I'm sure this Lexington is in on this, but I can't help but feel something bigger is at hand..."

Releasing a sigh, Sean looks up, rubs his eyes and then back down at his pad of paper.

[Decrepit]

The professor nods, "Yes, sooner or later we'll get to the bottom of this business with Miss Lexington."

"I suspect that Scott may be using an assumed identity," Graves looks at Jack and Isugtag in turn, "You two gentlemen have contacts in law enforcement and amongst the press, might it be possible for you to learn through them who exactly our Adam Scott really is, and what his grudge with Mister Starkweather is all about?"

"I suppose we could try that, professor," Jack says, "although I'm not sure where we'd even begin. We can maybe pick apart his alias, anyway, if that's what it is."

[Raiko]

Saturday 30th September, 1933

Jack, Isugtag and Graves step back into the cabin and spend the next few hours continuing the interrogation.

Despite the beating that he takes from Isugtag though, Scott divulges little additional information. He admits that he thinks his shadowy New York employer is either Alicia Lexington or somebody close to her, but it turns out that he never met them in person, and so it's hardly evidence of criminal activities on Lexington's part.

He clearly intensely dislikes Captain James Starkweather, but no amount of pain convinces him to divulge to reasons for his hatred. The saboteur also refuses to speak about exactly what items of equipment he damaged, but he does admit that he threw the rest of his powdered strychnine overboard after poisoning the dogs.

The only concrete thing to come out of the rest of the interview is that by the end all three investigators are convinced that Adam Scott is his real name, something that will perhaps make it easier for Jack and Isugtag's contacts back home to learn the origin of his grudge.

Afterwards Captain Vredenburg, James Starkweather and Professor Moore listen intently to the information that the trio have obtained. After much discussion the Captain asks that they spend one more day trying to obtain further information from Scott, after which he will be keep out of contact with anyone other than his guards until the Gabrielle is in port. The captain explains that he has been in touch with the authorities in Melbourne, and Scott will be arrested immediately upon docking, "I informed them the lad got roughed up a bit during resisting his capture. They were understanding obviously, but all the same, I want the prisoner left alone for the last few days of the voyage."

Asked whether he knows of Scott from some past adventure Starkweather shakes his head, "I've honestly never met the man before in my life prior to this expedition."

Jack wires back to his newspaper in New York to see whether they can find some connection between Starkweather and the saboteur.

Sunday 31st September, 1933

The investigation of the cargo holds is completed during the following morning, James and Olof discover that all three of the 300 Watt Camp Generators in the Number-One Hold have been damaged by acid being poured into their oil ports. Ten of the expedition's thirty oxygen tanks are also found to be empty, due to their valves being slightly loosened.

Faced with the option of yet another beating from Isugtag, Scott admits causing all of the damage, but says little else. He looks sullen now for the first time, Graves suggests that he doubtless believed that some of his sabotage would go unnoticed until it was too late.

Tuesday 2nd October, 1933

Two days later on the morning of the 2nd, Jack receives a wire back from his newspaper; apparently during a small expedition into the Swiss Alps led by James Starkweather in 1921, a twenty five year old climber named Allan Scott of Yale University fell over 300 feet down a crevice to his death. Among Allan Scott's surviving relatives was his younger brother Adam (21).

When asked about this news Scott flies into a rage, ranting about Starkweather's incompetence, and again warning all within earshot to leave this expedition "before it's too late."

Starkweather himself doesn't even remember the name Allan Scott at all, he remembers one of the mountaineers in that expedition dying in a fall, but not their name. "Well mountains are dangerous places you know Jack, one slip and that's it. That's why I've only brought along the best for this trip, I expect this Scott was a rather careless type."

"So you think that young Scott harboured a grudge for all these years, until that damned Lexington Woman made contact with him?"

Wednesday 3rd October, 1933

Stormy weather on the 3rd and 4th of October slow the SS Gabrielle's progress, it is doubtful now that she will make port in Melbourne earlier than the 10th.


Monday 8th October, 1933

The Gabrielle comes in sight of the Eastern coast of Australia at last. It's a long voyage around the coast to Melbourne, but after the trials and events of the Pacific voyage everybody takes the opportunity to celebrate.

Sailing along the Australian coast toward Melbourne in the middle of October is a treat indeed after a long stretch at sea. Just as North America is turning from summer into autumn, Australia is turning from a mild winter into a warming spring. The coast of New South Wales is a delight to the eyes. Mixed stands of conifers and broad-leafed trees march up gentle hills into the heights of the Great Divide Range. Forests are broken up by small areas of grassland, and the coast is dotted with thriving towns and cities.

News reaches the Gabrielle that afternoon that the Lexington Expedition's ship the SS Tallahassee has docked in Hobart, Tasmania to resupply prior to continuing south. Predictably Starkweather leaves the celebrations at this point, he is convinced that all of Scott's sabotage was perpetrated in the service of Alicia Lexington, and the news that the heiress' expedition is still days ahead is not well received.

For the first time news also reaches the Gabrielle of the German Barsmeier-Falken Expedition. Led by Dr Klaus Falken and Josef Barsmeier; financed by a consortium of private industrial interests including DELAG (the German Airship Company) and the Junkers company and operating with the full support of the German government, the Barsmeier-Falken Expedition will conduct aerial mapping of the Weddell Quadrant of Antarctica.

The expedition's support ship the SS Wilhelmina left port in Germany in early September and is now deep in the South Atlantic, she is expected to reach Deception Island in the Antarctic Archipelago within the next week or two.

The expedition will be making use of the airship the Graf Zeppelin which will join the Wilhelmina at Deception Island several days later. The airship is due to depart Germany on the 14th and will be making a single refuelling stop at Rio de Janeiro enroute. The SS Wilhelmina has been specially modified with a Zeppelin anchor mast to allow her to support airship operations.

Thursday 11th October, 1933

As the Gabrielle rounds Cape Howe, the sea turns choppy and a cold hard wind drives idlers below decks. With the islands of Tasmania to port, the ship struggles all days through the Bass Straits and around the Wilson Promontory.

Eventually as evening falls the Gabrielle sits at anchor a few miles outside the entrance to the Port Victoria bay, a narrow and extremely dangerous passage known locally as "The Rip." Large ships passing in or out of the bay must follow a precise and winding route through the rocks and surging currents of The Rip, a hazardous operation that requires the knowledge of a local pilot. Arrangements have been made by radio for a pilot to come out to the Gabrielle at first light.

<<I'll be posting some more tonight...>>

[Henrik]

Olof is really amazed by the gentle weather. Although he is well aware of the reversed seasons on the southern hemisphere it is still a marvel to behold. Weather like this in October!